Always a King or Queen
by aine hathaway
Summary: Sequel to 'Once a King or Queen of Narnia'. It has been a year since the 5 Pevensie siblings have left Narnia and they are wondering if they will ever go back. Dawn's connection with the Deep Magic is weakening and she worries for her siblings who have begun to doubt Aslan. Dawn wants more than anything to be back where she belongs. Narnia. There she may just find her true love.


I pulled Lucy back as she was almost hit by a car. It was just after school and we were all supposed to be taking the train back home. Lucy and I were wearing our uniforms, red blazers and waistcoats, white shirts, a grey skirt or dress, a yellow and black tie, along with grey knee socks and school 'appropriate shoes', I just wore an old pair of comfortable black boots. Lucy had her case in hand while my purple, leather shoulder bag was slung over my shoulder. Her hair was in two plaited pig-tails which I had done for her this morning before school. Though most of her hair was hidden by the grey hat she was wearing on her head.

My hair was pulled back in a simple bun with three rose clips slipped in on top. I still wore my sun and moon ring aswell as my sun and moon necklace that I still had with me from Narnia.

"Mind yourselves, loves," called the man driving the car. Lucy gave an apologetic look, while I just gave a wave of thanks for stopping. "Oh, we're sorry," said Lucy before she grabbed my hand in her one and dragged me over to where I could see Susan standing flipping through a magazine at a magazine stand.

I looked to Lucy as we jogged along, "Peter just had to get himself into another fight, didn't he?" Lucy rolled her eyes at me, "if I hadn't pulled you away to help me get Susan, you most likely would have joined in." I smirked and nodded, "true, true!"

We neared Susan and saw she was standing next to a tallish boy with round glasses, she looked as though she wished the ground would swallow her up. She said something to him just before Lucy and I called out, "Susan!"

We caught up to her and Lucy exclaimed desprately, "you better come quickly!" Susan glanced at us and then to the boy next to her before placing down the magazine and running with us back across the road and to the underground.

As we ran the stairs the shouting of students from both our school and the boys' school could be heard. As we got closer it was obvious what they were yelling, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" I rolled my eyes, _'so mature.' _There was a large crowd of mainly boys from St. Finbars but there were a good number of girls from our school.

Together, Lucy and I pushed through the crowd to get closer and get a better look of what was happening, Susan was close behind us. We stopped and each gave a disapproving look as we spotted Peter being beaten up by some boys. I was concerned for Peter as it was two against one and they both had a hold on his arms.

Peter was crushed up against the wall and held there and when another boy went into attack, I felt someone give me a small shove to the side. Looking up I saw my twin brother, Edmund, making his way down towards the fight. "Edmund!" cried Lucy.

Edmund ignored her and tackled the boy that was about to attack Peter. "Ed!" I cried, nervously. I knew he could handle himself but I still worried.

Edmund was able to distract him but Peter was still fighting off the other two. He was rammed into the floor and on kicked him in the side. Edmund grabbed him and threw him away, unfortunately for Edmund, he didn't notice one of the boys sneaking up behind him. He was then also tackled to the ground and landed with a hard 'thud'. I winced at the sound and I couldn't contain it anymore.

I pushed through the crowd towards Edmund and sent a sharp kick into the ribs of the boy that was pining him down and was about to send a punch into my brother's face before I interupted. Edmund sent me a thankful smile as he lay on the stone ground.

A loud whistle blared, alerting the on-lookers of approaching other boys were still fighting Peter and so, seeing this, the soldiers dashed forward to break up the fight.

"Come on, come on. Break it up!" called the main soldier as he grabbed hold of the boy that was towering over Peter and pulled him to his feet and shoved him aside. I pulled Edmund back as he was trying to get at the boy. A soldier also grabbed Peter's arm and dragged him up onto his feet.

"Act your age," exclaimed the soldier. I shared a smirk with Edmund, I leaned in to whisper in his ear, "we're looking good for 30." He laughed at my comment. It had been a year since we had been to Narnia and we were all starting to question if we would ever get back. Susan seemed to have given up on Narnia completely, which sickened me. She often talked as though it was just some game we made up as children. Counting the years we had spent ruling Narnia, Edmund and I would be 30 years of age as we had been 29 when we left.

We approached a bench where we had safetly left all our things and sat down. I sat at the end. Edmund placed down his case before sitting down next to me and Peter and saying to him, "you're welcome." Edmund had finally hit his growth spurt and was now just as tall as Peter and his voice was much deeper. He didn't look as childish anymore and many of the girls in my school liked him. It was annoying at first when girls tried to be my friend to find out about my brothers but like Lucy and Susan, I prefered to be alone.

In Narnia, my writing and reading skills improved and I could speak in many languages now. My magic also had improved and I still practiced when we were here in England but I had to be careful, Susan didn't know about me using my magic but the others did. I spent much time reading and writing. We had also taken up new hobbies. Susan and I had taken up archery here, surprisingly there was a teacher for that at the boys' school but the class was nearly all boys. I also took fencing with Peter and Edmund. I was the only girl in that club. We wanted to keep up our skills in case we ever returned. This was the reason Susan began archery but now it was just something to do.

Lucy had become quite artistic and was a brilliant painter and drawer.

Peter sneered at Edmund, ever since Narnia he had become quite snobby, I guess it was to do with being put as High King and being called 'the Magnificent'. But hey, I was High Queen and I didn't lose sight of who really mattered not that Peter did, he just sees himself as more important now. Susan was also annoyed with how I was High Queen and not her, she never said it directly but she implied it and we all noticed. I didn't choose the position and it was quite hard as I had alot of duties along with being an enchantress, as they called me, so things often piled up on me.

"I had it sorted," replied Peter, coldly. I sighed, I didn't like it when they fought. It reminded me of how they were before Narnia.

Edmund and I had grown alot closer in Narnia. Our twin connection grew stronger and he now confided in me more than he did with Peter, on everything. He knew I would never judge him and let him tell the whole story of whatever was going on. We understood each other alot more than the others did. Lucy and Edmund were also closer too, Edmund wasn't as close to Lucy as I was but they were close.

Peter got up off the bench and walked in the direction of the tracks. "What was it this time?" asked Susan before he glanced back at us over his shoulder. "He bumped me," he explained, vaguely. "So you hit him?" exclaimed Lucy. Peter turned so he was half facing us, "no, when he bumped me he tried to make me apologise. Thats when I hit him." I shuck my head, "Peter, you hit him for that? Bit over dramatic." He sent me an irritated glare which I just returned with an expressionless look. "Really," stated Susan, "is it that hard to just walk away?"

Peter turned to face us completely, an angry look on his face, "I shouldn't have to, " he said in an irritated tone. "I mean, don't you ever get tired of being treated like a kid." Edmund then spoke up, "um, we are kids." I nodded in agreement with him. "Well, I wasn't always," stated Peter. I shuck my head at him, "it wasn't just you, Peter, we all lived it." At this, there was an awkward silence around us. It was interupted by Peter who turned back once again to face us and walked back and slumping down on the bench inbetween Edmund and Lucy. "Its been a year," he said as he sat down, "how long does he expect us to wait?"

At this the slight humming in the back of my head that was the connection I shared with the Deep Magic sparked to life but I ignored it.

Susan leaned closer to him, over Lucy, "I think its time to accept that we live here." I shuck my head, Narnia was my home. Not London or even England, it never was not even when I was kid, it never felt right. "Its no use pretending any different," Susan finished.

Susan, then glanced around over her shoulder. She must have spotted something because she quickly spun back to face us and said, urgently, "pretend you're talking to me." Edmund and I then spoke in perfect sync like we so often did, twin thing, "we are talking to you." The way we said made it obvious that we didn't want to be talking to her. Susan glared at us.

At that moment, the humming in the back of my head spiked up again, more this time and it was no longer in the back of my head. I pressed my palm to my forehead in surprise. I wasn't used to it anymore as it had been a year since I had properly felt it. It took me several moments to regain control. Then I realised Lucy was on her feet and looking back at us slightly annoyed.

The others were looking at her in surprise but Edmund was looking at me in concern and quickly grabbed hold of my hand in comfort knowing something was wrong. "Quiet, Lu!" scolded Susan. "Something pinched me," exclaimed Lucy. My eyes widened at that, could this be the Deep Magic bringing us back to Narnia or was Lucy being pinched and my magic-inducing-headache just happening at the same time because of coincidence. Me, being me, I don't believe in coincidences.

"Hey! Stop pulling!" complained Peter as he got to his feet and spun to face Edmund who he was balmming. "I'm not touching you," stated Ed.

"Look would all of you just.." but Susan cut herself off by also jumping to her feet, quickly followed by Edmund and myself, "what is that?"

"It feels like magic!" stated Lucy, happily. They all looked to me, questioningly. I grinned and replied, "I'm not doing it, and trust me, I know magic when I feel it," and before I continued I beamed over at Lucy, "and this is definately it!" Susan then looked at each of us, "Quick, everyone hold hands."I couldn't help but laugh as Edmund yelled at Peter, "I'm not holding your hand!" I gripped Edmund's hand tightly as he still hadn't let go from before.

"Just.." stated Peter but he didn't finish and just left the sentance hanging. The train that had started passing, seemed to just keep going and going. It was going so fast and was showing no signs of stopping or even slowing down. It caused our uniforms and hair to fly in the strong wind it was creating. Parts of hair fell out of the clips but I use magic to keep my hair up so most stayed up.

The tiles on the roof and the walls quickly began to crack and then break away. They then flew in the same direction the train was heading. The signs hanging from the roof creaked and swayed around. The strange thing was, we seemed to be the only people noticing this and effected by it. Posters were ripped from the walls and pieces of paper were sent flying through the air.

Lamps were thrown about until they finally broke off and joined everything else speeding off with the train. The stone walls then broke away and through the train windows we were able to see the wall on the other side of the tracks quickly disappearing to show a beautiful beach with golden sand and crystal blue water.

The train station was now completely gone and we were left with curved stone walls and hard, sandy ground beneath our feet. The train disappeared into thin air and we gazed after where it had just been heading and then seemed to fade away. We stood frozen, in the large cave for a few moments.

We walked out of the cave and onto the beach. It looked quite familiar yet there was something I just couldn't put my finger on about the place. I knew it definately but I just couldn't think of it. There was a large rock formation part way in the water a bit further then half way up the beach.

We looked to the water, longingly. Lucy stepped out of the line, letting go of Susan's hand and looked from her to me. Then together we darted off towards the water, throwing off our ties and blazers along with Lucy's and my waistcoats. We tossed them onto the sand as the boys did the same.

"Shame your not as quick as me, Ed!" Jeered Peter as he pushed Edmund back playfully and raced ahead of him. "Last one in is a rotten egg!" sang Lucy, childishly. We had to stop for a few seconds to discard our shoes but we were quickly back on the move. "Watch out!" I heard Peter cry from behind as he almost tripped over Edmund, who was taking off his shoes.

I laughed along with them all as we skipped into the water causing large splashes as we went.

Without further delay we began a huge water fight. Lucy quickly left the water to throw off her cardigan. I hadn't worn one today but Susan had and already it was drenched and dripping wet. As Edmund and I splashed Lucy, she tripped and and landed in the water and was soaked causing us to laugh. Edmund then grabbed me and dunked me under water. Because of this I pulled the roses from my hair and let the magic go and let my hair fall down my back, a wet mess.

We continued to squeal loudly when we were targetted but the next time Edmund dunked me down to the water we both faltered as we caught sight of the cliffs infront of us and glanced up to the top of them. "Ed? Dawnie?" called Susan. When we didn't answer and continued to gaze up at the cliffs she called again, "Ed! Dawn!"

Peter then noticed our confused expressions and asked, "what is it?" Edmund replied by asking, "where do you suppose we are?" Peter gave us a look that stated, 'come on!' and said, like it was obvious, "well, where do you think?" I looked to him and then back up at the cliffs and said, "I know Narnia like the back of my hand, whether its the sea, the skies or the land and as far as I remember, and I remember well, there weren't any ruins." Edmund and I then together turned to face the cliffs and gazed up at them. Our siblings did too.

* * *

We made our way up to the ruins, grabbing most of our things on the way up, Edmund even still had his bag and so did I. We then began to explore. It was strangely famailiar, just like the beach. Except this place felt, broken almost. Sad and empty.

Lucy and I wandered away from the others and approached a large apple tree and plucked two apples down from it and munched away at them as we walked. Even the trees seemed off but it took a while for me to realise what it was.

"Lu?" I called to my little sister. She walked back over to join me by the apple tree as I stroked the bark with the back of my hand. "yes, Dawnie? Whats wrong?" she asked. "The trees," I replied. She just gave me a confused look. I sighed and shuck my head, "don't you feel it, see it even? Theres no dryads anywhere, yet there is all these trees. It seems as though they are asleep, all of them."

Lucy shrugged, "I still don't understand, I'm not connected to the Deep Magic like you are." I could tell she was feeling nervous as she could tell I was worried. I looked away from the tree and to her and looked directly into her eyes, "I guess..." I tried to think of how to explain it, "its like winter. Almost as though they are all in hibernation." Lucy then understood. She grabbed my hand, "lets go find the others."

We made our way through the ruins and trees. The ruins must have been here a long time for the plant life to be like it was. It was only now I noticed that the Deep Magic connection in mind wasn't acting up. I didn't know why and I didn't like it. I knew one thing, it wasn't a good sign.

There were many tall trees coiled or leaning against crumbling stone steps or arches. There were several stone platforms pillars scattered in what must have originally been an orginised manor. Lucy and I wandered over to a gap where you could see out to sea with a perfect view. We then turned back to face the others who were all now in sight, studying the ruins. "Wonder who lived here," said Lucy to us.

Susan began to make her way towards us but as she did she must have stepped on something or seen something as she turned her gaze to the ground and bent over to pick up something from between the grass.

I made my way over to see what was in her hand. It was a golden centaur piece, from a chess set. Edmund's chess set. He had been the best at it and had several chess sets in the castle. "I think we did," remarked Susan, glancing down at the figurine in her hand. Lucy also came over and then Edmund who was closely followed by Peter from the other side of a large stone wall. Edmund noticed the chess piece and said, "hey! Thats my mine! From my chess set!"

"Which chess set?" asked Peter as he came to halt at his side. "Well, I didn't exactly have a solid gold chess set back in Finchley, did I?" replied Edmund, smartly.

Lucy and I met each others gaze. We seemed to figure something out at the exact same time as we both turned our heads to look at where there was a large stone platform with the ruins of five unrecognisable object once stood and with pillars all the way down like an aisle, the pillars were nearly al broken and cracked most were atleast less then half their original size. If we lived here then this must be...

"Can't be," muttered Lucy as we dashed of towards to investigate our hunch, the others following close behind. Lucy pushed Peter to stand in a certain place, almost at the centre of the platform right infront of one of the five stone objects and then Susan next to him. I pulled Edmund to the far side and I stood inbetween him and Peter.

"Imagine walls," said Lucy, "and collums!" As Lucy also went ot stand in her place at the other end, I said, "And a glass roof."

"Cair Paravel," stated Peter. We may have guessed that we had lived here, but proving it and finding out our home was literally in ruins was quite heart-breaking.

* * *

**There you go! The first chapter of the sequel, who is excited. ME! Please tell me if you liked it, if you didn't please don't be too harsh.  
Thank you for reading please continue to do so!**

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**Your loving author,  
****Áine**


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